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MINNEAPOLIS — When Twins manager Ron Gardenhire unveiled his lineup for Opening Day against the Tigers this morning, there was a surprise with catcher Joe Mauer getting the start as the club’s second hitter for just the 74th time in his career.

Mauer, who hit second only 10 times over the previous three seasons, got the nod in the two-hole with second baseman Brian Dozier sliding down from second to bat eighth against Tigers ace Justin Verlander.

“I want him to bat first, second and third but I can only bat him in one place, so we chose second,” Gardenhire joked. “As [hitting coach Tom] Brunansky and I talked, we talked about ‘ambush.’ So we’re going to ambush at the top with all these hitters and go from there.”

Mauer, who led the American League with a .416 on-base percentage in 2012, said he’s fine with the move to the second spot in the lineup behind rookie Aaron Hicks and in front of sluggers Josh Willingham, Justin Morneau and Ryan Doumit.

“I told Gardy that I don’t have a problem wherever he puts me in the lineup, as long as I’m in the lineup,” Mauer said. “And what gives us our best chance to score runs, so hopefully we can get some runs.”

Gardenhire, though, said the move isn’t permanent and Mauer can move down to his usual third spot in the lineup if someone like Dozier proves capable of batting second.

“It’s for today, and we can always adjust as we go along,” Gardenhire said.

The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Twins, who fell to 5-3 in Grapefruit League play.

What went right: Morneau looks absolutely locked in at the plate so far this spring, and hit his first homer in Grapefruit League play off Red Sox reliever Alfredo Aceves.

Morneau leaves camp with a .471 batting average with a team-high eight RBIs in six games. He also played in six of the club’s first eight games, including five in a row, to get ready for his time with Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic. There’s definitely reason for optimism, as Morneau is finally healthy after dealing with various injuries the last few years.

Catcher Joe Mauer went 1-for-3 with a single and is hitting .364 (4-for-11) with a .563 on-base percentage in five games. He’s flying out to Arizona on Sunday to join Team USA.

Closer Glen Perkins, who is also leaving camp to join Team USA in the Classic, threw a 1-2-3 fourth inning and struck out two.

What went wrong: The offense didn’t do much, as evidenced by the fact that Morneau’s homer was the only run the Twins scored in the loss.

Right-hander Kyle Gibson, making his first Grapefruit League start after throwing two scoreless innings in relief on Sunday, had trouble with his command in the second inning. Gibson, who had Tommy John surgery in September of 2011, gave up one run on three hits over 1 2/3 innings and needed 48 pitches record five outs.

Right-hander Esmerling Vasquez went 1 2/3 innings but gave up the go-ahead RBI single to Ryan Sweeney in the fifth inning.

What they said: “Hopefully it means we’re ready to go. It’s a good way to head in there. That’s for sure.” — Morneau said about homering in his last at-bat before the World Baseball Classic.

What’s next: Right-hander Mike Pelfrey is set to make his second Grapefruit League start on Sunday against the Rays in a 1:05 p.m. ET start at Charlotte Sports Park. Pelfrey, who had Tommy John surgery on May 1, gave up three runs in 1 2/3 innings in his first start against the Blue Jays on Tuesday. Left-hander David Price is slated to start for the Rays.

Injury update: Outfielder Darin Mastroianni (sore left hamstring) is expected to return to action by middle or late this week. His injury is not considered serious. … Left-hander Scott Diamond (elbow) threw his first full bullpen session on Thursday without any issues and is scheduled to throw another on Sunday. … Right-hander Anthony Swarzak (ribs) played catch for the first time this spring on Thursday, and again on Friday, and said everything is progressing on schedule. … Left-hander Rafael Perez (shoulder) played catch from 90 feet on Friday and will progress from there. … Outfielder Oswaldo Arcia (strained intercostal muscle) is feeling much better but the Twins are taking it easy with him. He should return to action by next week.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Today marks the first game between the Twins and Red Sox in their annual battle for the Mayor’s Cup.

Well, actually there’s been some debate whether the Mayor’s Cup exists now that the Red Sox moved into JetBlue Park last year, as both teams are actually located in unincorporated Lee County and not in the city of Fort Myers. Either way, it’s the first of eight meetings between the two clubs in Grapefruit League play this year.

Josh Willingham returns to the lineup for the Twins after sitting out yesterday’s game in Jupiter with back stiffness. He leads all hitters in Spring Training with a .727 batting average. It also will be the last game for Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer and Glen Perkins before they depart for Arizona for the World Baseball Classic.

Right-hander Kyle Gibson also gets his first Grapefruit League start today. He’s been the most impressive pitcher I’ve seen in camp so far — his fastball was hitting 96 mph in his last outing — and has a legitimate chance to make the rotation.

I also talked to Scott Diamond (elbow) and Anthony Swarzak (ribs) this morning and they’re both encouraged by their recent progress. Diamond threw a full bullpen session and is scheduled to throw another one tomorrow with the hope of getting into his first game in mid-March. Swarzak played catch on Thursday and Friday but still doesn’t know when his first bullpen will be.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Right-hander Liam Hendriks tossed three scoreless innings and Justin Morneau drove home three runs to help the Twins to a 7-1 win over the Orioles on Thursday at Hammond Stadium.

Hendriks, who was making his second start of the spring and is competing for a spot in Minnesota’s rotation, gave up four hits and struck out two. He improved his ERA to 1.80 ERA in five Grapefruit League innings.

What went right: Hendriks was sharp and is making a case to start the season in the rotation, especially if Scott Diamond (elbow) starts the year on the disabled list.

But he also had a great spring last year and it didn’t translate to the Majors, as evidenced by his 5.59 ERA in 16 starts. Hendriks, though, said he’s made some mechanical adjustments so he’ll definitely be worth watching. He’s been dominant in the Minors, including last year when he had a 2.20 ERA in 16 outings with Triple-A Rochester.

Morneau continued to swing a hot bat, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs. He’s hitting .467 with three doubles and seven RBIs this spring. But Josh Willingham has been even better, as he went 2-for-2 and is batting .727 (8-for-11) this spring.

Catcher Joe Mauer, fresh off the announcement that he and his wife, Maddie, are expecting twins, went 2-for-2 with a walk and an RBI. He’s hitting .375 (3-for-8) with a .615 on-base percentage in four games.

Cole De Vries, Alex Burnett, Casey Fien and Anthony Slama each threw a scoreless inning in relief. It was the Grapefruit League debut for May, who was acquired in the Ben Revere trade with Philadelphia. He walked two batters but was able to get out of the jam.

What went wrong: Not too much went wrong for the Twins, who won their fourth straight game.

But reliever Deolis Guerra struggled a bit in the ninth inning, as he gave up a run on a hit and a walk. He’s allowed four runs in 2 1/3 innings this spring.

What they said: “It’s unbelievable. What a blessing. I’m just very excited and very happy. I really couldn’t believe it at first. It’s still kind of a shock. It’s starting to hit me now that we’re starting to tell people. I’m just very excited.” — Mauer said about his wife being pregnant with twins.

What’s next: The Twins are making the trek across the state to play the Marlins in Jupiter on Friday at 1:05 p.m. ET at Roger Dean Stadium. Right-hander Vance Worley, who was acquired in the trade that Ben Revere to Philadelphia, is scheduled to make his second start of the spring for the Twins. Right-hander Henderson Alvarez is slated to start for the Marlins.

Injury update: Outfielder Darin Mastroianni left Thursday’s game against the Orioles in the fourth inning with a sore left hamstring, and is day to day. He tweaked his hamstring on a check swing during his at-bat against Orioles right-hander Kevin Gausman. He still managed to hit a double that at-bat but was taken out for pinch-runner Clete Thomas.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — All three Twins players competing for the center field spot this spring started against the Blue Jays and made an impact in the Twins’ 8-4 win on Tuesday at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.

Darin Mastroianni, Aaron Hicks and Joe Benson started in left, center and right field, respectively, and combined to go 4-for-12 with four RBIs, three runs and a walk.

What went right: Mastroianni, Hicks and Benson all looked good at the plate and displayed plenty of speed in the outfield tracking down fly balls.

Benson absolutely crushed a two-run homer in the second inning off Blue Jays left-hander Ricky Romero. Hicks also picked up two hits and just narrowly missed a homer, as he doubled off the right-field wall in the fourth and came around to score on a single from Mastroianni. Hicks later added an RBI single to center in the fourth.

Prospect Eddie Rosario also smashed a two-run blast in the seventh inning off Dave Bush. It was the first career Grapefruit League homer for Rosario, who is only in camp because he’s going to play for Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic.

Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau both fared well offensively, as Morneau went 2-for-4 with an RBI double while Mauer went 1-for-2 with two walks. Trevor Plouffe added an RBI single and a walk in his debut after missing the first three games with a sore right calf.

What went wrong: It’s hard to be too critical about just the first outing for right-hander Mike Pelfrey since he underwent Tommy John surgery on May 1 but he did give up three runs on five hits over 1 2/3 innings.

Pelfrey, whose fastball usually averages about 92 mph, was throwing his fastball at about 88 mph but said he’s not worried about velocity at this point in Spring Training. He said that he was only 82-84 mph in his first spring start last year before getting to 92-94 mph by the time the regular season started.

Mastroianni made a baserunning mistake in the in the fourth inning, when he tried to steal third with two outs and Morneau at-bat. He was caught stealing on the play and ended the inning. He’s an aggressive baserunner but he has to know the risk of getting caught at third with two outs outweighs the benefit of stealing third, especially with Morneau at the plate, as he’d score from second on a single with two outs anyways.

Left-hander Tyler Robertson served up his second homer of the spring on a solo blast to Andy LaRoche in the seventh inning.

I wouldn’t call it something going wrong but something very unusual happened in the first inning, when Romero got Mauer to pop up to catcher Henry Blanco. It’s an extremely rare thing considering Mauer has only popped up once over the last two seasons in 974 plate appearances, according to Fangraphs.com. For perspective, Jimmy Rollins popped out 42 times last year in 699 plate appearances.

What they said:“It was good. The defense played well. Couple balls out of the ballpark. Caught the ball. Only had one play that wasn’t great, Mastroianni trying to steal third there with Mornie up, in front of Canadian fans and everything. He just lost his head. So we straightened that out, and we’re OK.” — Gardenhire said.

What’s next: Right-hander Kevin Correia is set to take the mound for the second time this spring, when he starts against the Phillies in a 1:05 p.m. ET start at Hammond Stadium. Correia, who gave up a run on two hits over two innings in his first start, is scheduled to fly home to San Diego after the game to attend the birth of his third child. Left-hander John Lannan starts for the Phillies.

Injury update: Plouffe said he’s 100 percent and won’t be limited by his sore calf moving forward. But he said he’s hoping to test it out more, as no one hit the ball his way in his four innings at third base.

Correia, who signed a two-year, $10 million deal to join the Twins this offseason, is set to make the start because the club wants him to make two starts before he departs for San Diego on Feb. 27 because his wife is due to give birth.

“We’re going to get him out there a couple times before that,” Gardenhire said. “Then he’s going to head out. It’s all planned. He’ll come back after that. Right now,we’ll get him out there first and go from there.”

After Correia, Shairon Martis, Ryan Pressly, Josh Roenicke, Tim Wood, Anthony Slama, Luis Perdomo and Bryan Augenstein are on the list to throw against the Orioles.

The Twins, however, have yet to announce a starter for Opening Day against the Tigers on April 1 at Target Field. Left-hander Scott Diamond is the frontrunner but it’ll depend on his health, as he’s just starting to throw off a mound after undergoing surgery in December to have a bone chip removed from his elbow.

Diamond threw off a mound for a second straight day today and is scheduled to throw a full bullpen session on Friday before facing live hitters next week. And if all continues to go well, he could be pitching in Grapefruit League games by the second week of March.

So while he’s not ready to make any predictions about being ready for the season just yet, he’s happy with his progress.

“The ball is coming out good but it’s just about finding the mechanics and that release point,” Diamond said. “Everything is lining up, which is positive. I’m just trying to get out the kinks but structurally it feels awesome. I’m not having any discomfort or tightness the next day. So basically, the recovery is going really well.”

Other notes from Twins camp:

— Gardenhire was impressed by what he saw from Rule 5 Draft selection Ryan Pressly and Tim Wood. Both threw live bullpens at Hammond Stadium. “I got to see some new people I hadn’t seen throw,” Gardenhire said. “Pressly and guys like that. I changed fields today for that reason. That was kind of fun to watch. Wood, the ball moves around all over the place.”

— Trevor Plouffe, who is dealing with a sore right calf, took part in infield drills and took batting practice. He also was able to do some light running drills.

— Make sure to check out Training Days, which is the Twins’ new behind-the-scenes video series they are debuting this spring. Today is Episode 1 and new episodes are expected to debut every Wednesday.

— Also, if you’re on Instagram, make sure to give me a follow (@rhettbollinger). I take a lot of photos on there, including ones that don’t end up on Twitter. I also joined Telly to post videos there, including ones I took today of Justin Morneau and Chris Parmelee taking batting practice.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Twins were forced to change their workout plans today because of rain but manager Ron Gardenhire said everyone was still able to get their work in.

All 16 pitchers scheduled to throw bullpens, including Mike Pelfrey, Liam Hendriks, Tim Wood, Anthony Slama and Trevor May, were able to throw off the mound near the club’s Minor League complex.

The catchers — and the other position players who are here early in camp — hit in the batting cages while pitchers were able to work on their bunting.

“We got just about everything done except for some of the fundamentals like covering first base,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “But we do that a lot so we’re OK.”

The Twins also made some news today, as they signed left-hander Rafael Perez to a Minor League deal with an invite to Spring Training. Perez is expected to get here on Saturday.

In an interesting move, the Twins are planning on stretching out Perez despite the fact he was used as a reliever during his time with the Indians. But he’s also coming off shoulder surgery in September so it’ll be interesting to see how he fares this spring. But it’s a low-risk deal on a guy with a combined 3.14 ERA dating back to 2010.

Here are a few other notes from camp:

— Pelfrey said his bullpen session went just fine and actually threw about 55 pitches, which is more than most pitchers at this point in camp. But he said he’ll be on the same schedule as everyone else this spring and has no doubts he’ll be ready for Opening Day despite undergoing Tommy John surgery in May.

— Kyle Gibson, who is also coming off Tommy John surgery, said he won’t be facing any restrictions this spring either. He threw his first official bullpen yesterday and reported no problems.

— Catcher Joe Mauer said he was impressed by both Tim Wood and Josh Roenicke in bullpen sessions today. Wood is one to watch for this spring, as he was named the International League reliever of the year the last two seasons. And Roenicke is coming off a career year, as he posted a 3.25 ERA in 88 2/3 innings with the Rockies.

— Gardenhire said Twins pitchers will start throwing live bullpens starting on Monday. Position players are required to report tomorrow with the first full squad workouts set for Saturday morning.

Twins catcher Joe Mauer and reliever Glen Perkins — both native Minnesotans — were named to the provisional roster on Thursday for Team USA for the World Baseball Classic.

Mauer and Perkins will be playing in the World Baseball Classic for the first time. Japan won the previous two Classics in 2006 and ’09.

“Both of them are very well deserving and very good baseball players,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “Joe is an obvious choice and with Perkins, I think it shows how far he’s come from the last few years until now. He’s just taking a run with his career so it’s real special. I’m sure he’s real proud.”

Additionally, Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, a British Columbia native, was named to Team Canada’s roster. Catcher Drew Butera, who is of Italian descent, was also on the provisional roster for Team Italy.

“The popularity of baseball is growing in Canada, and I’m looking forward to playing in the World Baseball Classic again,” Morneau said. “There’s something special about representing everyone back home and proving that Canadian baseball is among the world’s best.”

Mauer is coming off an impressive season in which he led the American League with a .416 on-base percentage. The St. Paul, Minn., native played in a career-high 147 games and hit 10 homers, 31 doubles and drove in 85 runs.

Perkins has emerged as one of the best left-handed relievers in the AL the last two seasons. The Stillwater, Minn., native has a 2.52 ERA with 143 strikeouts in 132 innings over the last two years.

Team USA, managed by Joe Torre, will begin practice at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Ariz., on March 1 and open its leg of the tournament against Mexico at Chase Field in Phoenix on March 8. Canada and Italy are the other two teams in its bracket. The finals are scheduled to be played at San Francisco’s AT&T Park on March 19.

Morneau, meanwhile, has gone through a normal offseason for the first time in at least three years, as he’s finally healthy. He hit .267 with 19 homers and 77 RBIs in 134 games last season, which was his highest total since playing 135 games in ’09.

“You won’t find a more proud Canadian than Justin Morneau and rightfully so,” Gardenhire said. “He’s loves doing that and being around his Canadian teammates and showing how proud they are and good they are at baseball. It’s a big deal for him.”

Morneau is joined on Canada’s provisional roster by Twins Minor League pitcher Andrew Albers. The left-hander posted a 3.75 ERA in 98 1/3 innings at Double-A New Britain last season.

DETROIT — It was a big day for the Minnesota Wild today, as they signed top free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to identical 13-year, $98 million deals.

But the Wild were helped by Twins manager Ron Gardenhire and catcher Joe Mauer, as they did their best to recruit the two players. Gardenhire and Mauer both appeared in a video to recruit Parise — a Minnesota native — while Mauer also appeared in one to sell playing in Minnesota to Suter.

Mauer jokingly downplayed his role in the signing of both players, but added he was pleased to hear the news of the two signings from Twins director of baseball communications Dustin Morse.

“If it was then I’m really happy,” Mauer said. “Dustin called me this morning and let me know the news, and definitely being a Minnesota guy, that’s nice to hear. It’s exciting. It’s exciting news.”

Mauer said part of his sales pitch was that they could both come to Target Field to take batting practice before a Twins game. He also told Parise about how special it is to play in Minnesota as a native of the state.

“I think I was wearing a Wild jersey and I was just telling both of them that they’d look good in green,” Mauer said. “I think I might have even promised them batting practice, but I’ve met Zach a couple times before, and he seems like a really good guy and I’m looking forward to meeting Suter, too.”

Parise has participated in batting practice with the Twins twice before, and signed a picture that is displayed in Gardenhire’s office. There’s also a $5 bill tacked to the picture from an unrelated bet Gardenhire made with St. Paul Pioneer Press columnist Tom Powers.

Gardenhire joked that he told Parise he’d add that $5 to his contract if he signed with the Wild as part of his pitch.

“I don’t think he needs to the 5 dollars, but I definitely sent him a video,” Gardenhire said. “I’ve got a picture of him on my bulletin board, in a New Jersey jersey, and I told him I’d like that jersey to be green and there was 5 bucks over the top of it that I got from Tom Powers, which I told him I would add to his contract. That’s basically the video sent. So I’ll take credit for him. Then I offered him about 18,000 rounds of batting practice.”

Mauer and Gardenhire said they both are going to attend more Wild games this season considering the buzz generated by the two signings. Mauer spends his offseasons in Florida but added he’ll make sure to come to games when he’s back up in Minnesota for the holidays.

The Wild have reportedly sold 500-plus season tickets since the signings were announced this morning, and Gardenhire said he was happy to hear it.

“Season tickets ought be going up, and there’s always a lot of interest in the Wild anyway because it’s hockey country, the hockey town in the world, St. Paul/Minneapolis and mostly St. Paul,” Gardenhire said. “It’s No. 1. I don’t care what Detroit says; this is No. 1. Now we’ve got two of the best free agents coming to play for us. I’m pumped up. I’ll be up there in the press box with Sid [Hartman] watching.”

ANAHEIM — After playing in every inning of the Twins’ first 21 games, catcher Joe Mauer is being held out of the lineup against the Angels tonight after taking a foul ball off his left knee yesterday.

Mauer was hit right above his left knee by a foul tip from Royals catcher Brayan Pena in the ninth inning of the Twins’ 7-4 win over Kansas City. Mauer stayed in the game but said that tonight was a good time to get his first day off this season.

“I’m pretty sore from yesterday,” Mauer said. “I’m going to get in there and get some treatment like I’ve been doing. Hopefully, I’ll be back in there tomorrow.”

Gardenhire said Mauer was held out mostly for precautionary reasons, and that he expects Mauer to be back in the lineup tomorrow.

Gardenhire added he still hadn’t decided whether Mauer will make his next start at catcher, first base or designated hitter. But Mauer said he’d like to get back behind the plate, especially with left-hander Francisco Liriano set to start tomorrow after missing his last start to clear his head after a rocky start to the year.

“We’ll just back him off a bit,” Gardenhire said. “He’s available for the ballgame but he has a little soreness in his knee so there’s no sense in messing around with it.”

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